“I never expected to stay in Albuquerque, New Mexico post high school,” says Ben Arndt, director of the funny and visually striking new short “Breakups Suck.” “However, to my suprise, the film industry slowly moved into my own backyard.”
Albuquerque and Santa Fe have been known in recent years for drawing big investments from heavy-hitters like Netflix and NBCUniversal. But Arndt represents a scrappy, inventive DIY scene — he made “Breakups Suck” as part of his graduate project from the University of New Mexico.
“Breakups Suck” played the Santa Fe International Film Festival Saturday and plays again Tuesday. It follows a young man named Luca (Jack McLaughlin) who wants to breakup with his girlfriend, Ruby (Willow Glenn.) The problem is, she’s a vampire, and tends to think in forever terms…